Monday, July 06, 2009

Before and After: First Bedroom

The first of three upstairs bedrooms was this one, down the hall just past the stairwell.

Love those "hip" beaded curtains!Dig that groovy stripe!The room is small and narrow, about 8 ft by 13 ft.Just past the door at the end of wall was a closet. In real estate listings, any room with a closet may be considered a bedroom.

With six bedrooms in the house, we decided this bedroom could loose its closet and become an "extra" room. The closet front was closed off in the small bedroom, and its backside, which was a wall in the master bedroom, was opened to become a second closet in our room.His and her closets...a better use of closet space for us.

The front of the closet was drywall and finished to match the texture of the lathe and plaster walls.

This little room had us stumped for the longest time: what on earth would we use it for?

It was going to be an office...or maybe a work out room.

Jeff was useful to us: he came over to help us move some things around and dropped the box with the glass topped office desk.

Hmmmm...must of been fate that caused the glass to break into a million pieces; suddenly the office option was off the table.

I didn't like the idea of exercise equipment upstairs...too ugly to pass by on the way to the bedroom and bath everyday.

Another bit of fate: We had planned to put our bookcases downstairs, only to discover that they were too tall for any of those rooms.

But...they would fit into the small first bedroom.

And how about putting the new wine cooler (that we impulsively got dirt cheap when we ordered applicance) in there too?

AFTER:

My stager Jill agreed: make it a nice sitting area to enjoy a good book and a glass of wine. We unfurled the area rug that had been in our Houston house's entry way, rolled my great grandmother's tea cart in, arranged Bernie's collection of glass paperweights on the second shelf of the tea cart and an assortment of wine glasses and pressed glass snack plates to dress up the cart and make it look right for serving wine instead of tea.

Tiggie was SO happy to see the rug again...it is the rug that he always used to sit on for brushing and pets.

My white chair and foot stool from my hat room faces the window and other chair.It is just perfect for relaxing and good conversation.

An oil painting of the ocean on one wall, and a print of cranes that we purchased on an island vacation...art work that recalls relaxing days.The little three legged drum table was a yard sale find from early marriage years. I refinished it myself, and it has looked great wherever we have used it. It was the best $25 that I've ever spent on furniture.

A watercolor of a construction scene was done by the father of a friend of Bernie back in the 1920's. It is unusual to paint pictures of construction sites, and this site was the building of Chicago's shoreline.

Bernie's years in construction makes him appreciate the painting's theme.

This was to be Bernie's room, so he selected the soft apricot tone for the walls, wanting it to be sunny and bright. At the time, we had no idea how we would use the room, it was just unbelievable how well the color went with everything we wound up using in the the room.

The little picture on the table is a small needlepoint picture of a bookshelf with mice that my mother made for me to celebrate my MLS degree. Next to it is a modern style glass bowl from Ikea that I have used as a hat block. Next to that is Bernie's book of daily devotions.

The view out the window is to another mountain that is quite beautiful, especially covered in snow.

We've discussed a window topper, B. prefers a plain window for now. We are trying to keep things simple in this house.

The light weight door is kept open with an old flat iron that my dad brought me from a hunting trip to Mexico years ago.

For a room that we didn't know what to do with, it has really turned out well.

Bernie and "the boys" retreat to this room for a bit every day. Sometimes I join him, and we talk and enjoy this space quite a bit.

We often comment that it would be a great space to share with friends.

What a great space for sitting with a good book. . and a glass of wine. I can easily imagine it a quiet spot . ..for reading and quiet conversations. So often dens are really used. . but this on being brighter and smaller. . looks like it will be used often.

I'm Jill. I'm a librarian and milliner now living in Salt Lake City with my husband of 37 years and my three shelter adopted cats. I'm 60, was born and expected I would spent my whole life in San Diego, save for two years in Corvallis Oregon in college.
Then beginning in 1997, right after our youngest graduated from high school my husband and I began "empty nesting" on the move. We lived one year in Almenden CA (San Jose area), two years in Dallas TX and eight years on Houston TX before moving Salt Lake City in the fall of 2008.
I love it here, but counting on Heaven being my ultimate hometown! I do hope we will one day be neighbors there?
I have two adult children; a daughter in San Diego and a son (and daughter-in-law) who also live in Salt Lake City; two beloved grandsons, and parents who were born and still live in San Diego, and who read my blog every day.